Drying system



Sept. 11, 1928.

- H. V. MOONEY ET AL DRYING SYSTEM Fi led May 5, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1mun/mes Harry 1/. Mooney.

BY William W flicks A TTOENEY Sept. 11, 1928. 1,683,984

H. V. MOONEY ET AL DRYING SYSTEM Filed May 5, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2FIEA- FIEI E uvvcw'rozs Harry. 1/. Moo/7e W/l/iam Ml. Hfbks' f.

Patented Sept. 11, 1928.

UNITED STATES 1,683,984 PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY V. MOONEY, OF SEATTLE, 'WASHINGTON, AND WILLIAM WESLEY HICKS, OI

. SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

Application filed May 3,

ber. A power driven fan or blower was usuallv resorted to in order toproduce a forced or induced draft thru the clothes or other articles. Incase the air was heated before being introduced, it was usuallydischarged after passing the length of the chamber. Thus means had to beprovided for heating relatively large quantities of air from roomtemperature to the drying temperature desired.

It is an object of this invention to devise a drying system in which thedrying air is reheated and recirculated a number of times before beingdischarged from the chamber.

It is a further object of this invention to employ a flue in conjunctionwith a source of heat for inducing a thermal circulation within thechamber of a drying system.

It is a further object of this invention to devise novel means in asystem such as described for removing moisture ladened air from thesystem and for introducing fresh quantites of air.

It is a further object of this invention to incorporate an electricheater with a lundry drying system in such a manner that the currentconsumption will be maintained at a minimum.

It is a further object of this invention to devise a novel and efiicientmethod of operating a laundry drying system.

Further objects of this invention will appear from the followingdescription in which we have set forth the preferred embodiment of ourinvention. .It is to be understood.

that the scope of the invention is'to be determined from the appendedclaims and the state of the prior art.

Referring to the drawings:

I Figure 1 is-a vertical longitudinal cross sectional view showing asystem constructed in accordance with this invention.

2 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal cross sec tional view showing amodification of this invention.

DRYING SYSTEM.

1926. Serial No. 106,202.

Figs. 4 and 5 are views similar to Figs. 1 and 2 showing anothermodification of the system.

Fig. 6 is a transverse cross sectional view showing a furthermodification of the invention.

The system comprises generally a chamber within which the clothes orother articles to be dried may be placed. Associated with the chamberthere is an open ended flue which, in conjunction with a source of heat,is adapted to induce a thermal circulation of air within the chamber,thus passing the air repeatedly into contact with the clothes or otherarticles. Relatively small quantities of air are introduced andwithdrawn from the system, so that the heat required for a given dryingoperation will be small com-. pared to that required in prior systems.In introducing fresh quantities of air, means has been provided forfirst. preheating the same and then in'termixing it with the air beingcirculated within the chamber, the

oint of intermixing being selected so that it will produce maximumthermal efiiciency 30 of the system.

Referring first to the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2, there isprovided a chamber or compartment 10 which is of suflicient size toreceive the articles or clothes to be 35 dried. This compartment isprovided with a sliding door 11 or other suitable means to provideaccess to the interior. Supported between the end walls 12 and 13 are apluralit-y of racks or rods 14 for hanging 00 clothes or other articles.Associated with the drying chamber there is a source of heat which ispreferablyin the form of a plurality of electrical heating resistances16, each comprising in the particular instance a hollow refractory core17 having disposed upon its periphery the resistance conductors 18. Theheating elements 16 are preferably mounted upon the bottom wall 19of ashell 20, the shell being secured at its forward edge to the wall 12 ofthe chamber. Opening 21 in the wall 12 permits convection currents ofair to pass into the shell 20 into contact with the heating elements 16,the air passing out again through the opening 22. The upper wall of theshell is preferably forwardly inclined to direct discharged air awayfrom. the wall 12. Thus it is seen that there is provided a flue forconvection currents of air, the flue being asopening 22 it will risethru the clothes to be dried, will move across the chamber, thendownwardly near the wall 13 and return again as cooled moisture ladenedair into the opening 21. A thermal circulation of air is thusestablished in which heated air is continually repassed into contactwith the clothes while the moisture ladened air is being reheated inpassing thru the flue.

It is of course obvious that means must be provided for removing acertain quantity of moisture laden air and for introducing freshquantities of air. In the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2 there hasbeen provided an outlet conduit 24 which is located near the lowerportion of the chamber 10. A small motor fan 26 may be positioned withinthis conduit 24 for withdrawing air from the chamber. For introducingfresh air into the chamber and preheating the same there is provided ahousing or shell 27 which is disposed about the shell 20 and spaced fromthe walls of the same, the housing 27 being similarly secured at itsforward edges to the wall 12. The lower portion of the housing isapertured as at 28 to permit the entrance of fresh air at atmosphericpressure. The wall 12 is also cut away as at 29 so that the spacebetween the shells 20 and 27 forms substantially a vertical open endedflue 30 for the passage of convection currents of air. Fresh airentering through the opening 28 will divide and pass in part up thru thefine 30 and in part through the hollow refractory core 17 to interminglewith the air being circulated within thechamber. Since the preheatedfresh air is intermingled with the fresh air within the chamber atsubstantially the point where the air being recirculated within thechamber is at its highest temperature, there will therefore besubstantially no heat exchange between the preheated fresh air and theair being circulated, thus insuring highest thermal efficiency for. thesystem. The manner of introducing the fresh air thru one or more heatedflues precludes the necessity for employing a fan or other mechanicalmeans. As the air which is discharged fro mthe system is withdrawn fromthe lower portion of the container it will be discharged at a relativelylow. temperature and will be thoroughly saturated with moisture.Sufficient velocity will be imparted to the air being discharged fromthe openings 22 and 29 to produce a perceptible draft within thechamber, thus effectively bringing the air .may be provided directly infront of the heating elements 16 and'spaced from the wall 12 wherebyconvection currents may pass upwardly between the baflle 32 and the wall12.

The modification shown in Fig. 3 differs from that shown in Figs. 1 and2 in the particular means for withdrawing moisture laden air from thesystem. In this case the heating elements 16 are supported within ashell 36 which has its forward edges secured to the wall 12 of thedrying chamber, and is mounted upon an apertured shelf 37. The lowerportion of the shell 36 below the shelf 37 communicates with theatmosphere through the passageway 38 while theupper portion of the shellis provided with a forwardly curved portion 39 and communicates openended flue 44 for convection currents of air. The lower end of this fluecommunicates with the interior of the chamber thru the-opening 45 whilethe upper end 46 discharges into the atmosphere. Heat will be impartedto the air in theflue 44 from the heated walls of the. shell 36 and thusthere will be produced, an upward draft which will be suflicient towithdraw moisture laden air from the chamber. It is to be noted thatboth in the case of the arrangement shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and with thatof Fig. 3 the moisture laden air is withdrawn in a direction tangentialto the general circulatory movement of the air within the chamberwhereby circulation within the chamber is facilitated.

In the modification shown in Figs. 4 and 5 the heating means has beenlocated along the side of the drying chamber rather than upon one end ofthe same, as shown in the prior constructions. Also a different meanshas been provided for withdrawing the air from the system. Thus theheating elements 16 have been located behind the side wall 9 of thechamber 10 within a shell 50 which may extend substantially the entirelength of the wall 9. 'Suitable openings 51 and 52 are provided in theside wall 9 to permit air". from the chamber to pass into the shell 50'into contact with the heating elements and out again thru the openings52. Inclosing the shell 50 and spaced from the walls there of is ahousing 53 which is in communication with the atmosphere by means of anopening 54 in its lower portion. The bottom paths, one thru the hollowcores 17 and the other thru the flue 56 formed by the space between thehousing 53 and the shell 50.-

The upper end of the flue 56 is in communication with the interior ofthechamber thru the opening 57. For withdrawing moisture ladened air fromthe system there is provided a header 58 disposed along the bottom ofthe chamber. A plurality. of ports or openings 59 are distributed alongthe length of the header 58 and suitable means such as a motor fan 60serves to withdraw air thru ports 59 and discharge the same thru theopen end 61 of the header.

The apparatus shown in Fig. 6 is similar to that shown in Figs. 4 and 5,but differs in the structural details for the circulation. and heatingmeans. In this case the electrical heating means is in the form of a hotpanel 63 which is mounted upon the upstanding wall 64. On either sideofthe wall 64 there are disposed baflle walls 65 and 66, the wall 66being interposed between the wall 64 and the side wall 9 of the chamber.A further baflle wall 67 may be mounted in spaced relationship to thewall 64 whereby two flues 68 and 69 are formed for inducing a thermalcirculation within the drying chamber, these flues being open at theirupper and lower ends. FOr'iIltrOdUCiIlg fresh air into the system anopening 7 0 is provided in the side wall 9 whereby fresh air will bedrawn into the interior of the chamber thru the suction induced by thetwo ,flues 71 and 72 which are formed between the hot panel 63 and thewall 9. Moisture ladened air is withdrawn from the system thru a header58 of similar construction to that shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The upperedges of the walls 64, 65 and 66 may be curved inwardly as shown inorder to direct the heated air away from the wall 9.

We claim:

1. A drying system comprising a chamber within which articles to bedried are adapted to be placed, a source of heat associated with saidchamber, means forming a flue for convection currents of air associatedwith said source of heat, said flue communicating with said, chamber atver tically spaced points whereby the air within the chamber iscirculated into contact with the articles to be dried, an intake passagecommunicating with said flue near the lower end of the same forintroducing fresh quanadapted titiesof air into the system atatmospheric pressure, and a second flue in heat absorbin relationshipwith said source of heat, sald second flue receiving air from'the lowerportion of the chamber and discharging the samefrom the system. I

2. A drying system comprising a chamber within which articles to bedried are to be placed, a source of heat asso'ciated with said chamber,means forming a flue for convection currents of air associated with saidsource of heat, said flue communicating with said chamber at verticallspaced points whereby air within the cham er circulates into contactwith articles to be dried, means -for introducing fresh quantities ofair into the system, and a heated flue communicating at its lower endwith said chamber for withdrawing air from the system.

3. In a drying apparatus, a drying chamber having an upstanding wall, ashell secured to said wall and disposed in the exterior of the chamber,electrical heating means in said shell, vertically spaced openings insaid wall whereby air within the chamber may circulate into'and out ofsaid shell, and

means forming a flue enclosing the exterior of said shell, the lowerportion of said flue having communication with said chamber.

4. In a drying system comprising a chamber within which articles to bedried are adapted to be placed, a source of heat associated withsaidchamber, means for causing air within the chamber to be circulatedinto contact with said heating means, and a flue having a heatconducting wall in heat receiving relationship with said source of heat,said flue receiving air from the chamber and discharging the same fromthe chamber.

5. A dryin system comprising a chamber within wIiich articles to bedried are adapted to be placed, a source of heat associated with saidchamber, means forming a flue for convection currents of air associatedwith said source of heat, said flue communicating with said chamber atvertically spaced points whereby air within the chamber circulates intocontact with articles to be dried, means for introducing freshquantities of air into the system, and a second

